For a town of nearly 18,000 residents, Midland’s council composition has a larger representation than the average municipal council in Ontario with nine members, including the mayor and deputy mayor.
As per a recent council decision, it looks like it will stay that way for yet another term.
Discussions around revising that representation was brought to the recent committee of the whole meeting, as a staff report advised lowering the nine representatives to seven when the 2026 municipal election is held.
Within the accompanying report, staff recommended that for the 2026 municipal election, a restructuring whittle those nine council roles down to seven positions – through lowering the current seven councillors by two seats to five.
As per the report, Midland’s population of just over 17,800 according to the 2021 Census equated to nine council members – 0.53 for every 1,000 residents compared to the average of 0.44 council members in other similar-sized municipalities. That meant Midland placed higher than Collingwood (0.41, pop. 24,800, nine council) and Oro-Medonte (0.33, pop. 23,000, seven council) for representation.
A 2012 town study noted a reduction in council size for cost savings, with a 2017 service delivery review further noting the same observation. In 2020, council-of-the-day eliminated the ward system but opted to continue with nine council members.
“Historically, clerks have brought this report forward and it's been defeated every time,” said town clerk Sheri Edgar.
The comment came at the end of a lengthy back-and-forth, when asked if the question of lowering the number of representatives could be put to the public for input, or even on a ballot for the voters to choose.
“There are strict restrictions of what can be put on a ballot,” replied Edgar. “This will come up again… before the next election in 2030, with a question to the current council if they wish to reduce – it's more of a fiduciary responsibility as clerk, just to try and have some savings and streamline the process.”
Coun. Jamie-Lee Ball noted that the cost-saving perspective was “peanuts. I mean it pays my babysitting fees, at least, to be at the meetings.”
She stood by other council members who looked to the town’s future growth of 22,500 by 2031, stating a nine-member representation would be required by then.
Gordon voted in favour of the reduction but noted it wasn’t “the hill I'm going to die on” as he explained the rationale of saving taxpayer money on extra council members, while noting that the statements from all members of council reflected those had in similar discussions for the Simcoe County member composition.
An additional idea floated by Mayor Bill Gordon, which was dismissed, was to reduce council to seven members with a sitting Mayor but no elected Deputy Mayor, as that role would shift between council members on an annual basis to perform. The rationale, he said, was due to Simcoe County opting to reduce its members by half, negating the reason for attendance duties of a Deputy Mayor at a county level.
Council opted not to change the status quo. A recorded vote on the issue registered as defeated, with seven of the nine council members voting yay, and two voting nay: Gordon and Coun. Bill Meridis.
The council composition report for the 2026 municipal election is available in the council agenda on the town of Midland website.
Council meetings are held every third Wednesday, and can be viewed on Rogers TV cable channel 53 when available, or through the livestream on the Rogers TV website. Archives of council meetings are available through Rogers TV and on the Town of Midland’s YouTube channel.